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02/09/2007: "TAIPEI MAIN STATION ....... Middle of the city"
There is a new bullet train to the south of the island. Something like 250km in 30 minutes.
The underground rail (MRT) runs rings around Sydney's rail service - who should be asking Taipei how to fix our rail system.
Electronic tickets and a train every three to five minutes. Everything seems made of stainless steel and is spotless. No food allowed and the system closes between midnight and six am.
Suppose my hotel is situated where Centrelink is in Sydney. (Pitt and Market Streets).
Usually I venture on foot no further than Haymarket, Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and the Museum.
The Taipei Zoo is probably the same distance as the Sydney Zoo, except you get there by train. Entry costs about AUS$3 would be popular with families here. And it's good.
The Taipei equivalent of Manly is Dansui - it's about where Hornsby would be and a cross between side-show type amusements and food a la Royal Easter Show and the Cooks River at Tempe.
(That's on the river side of Dansui. The city street is more like Chinatown meets Bondi Beach shops yet in a Paddington 5-ways style with twists and turning of streets).
(So I'm at Centrepoint - but it looks more like the Haymarket-end of Pitt Street, around the People's Palace).
Last night I was taken to this beaut night market of endless foods cooking - half outdoors - the rest in tiny shops with roller doors that only open at night.
It was so close to my hotel yet in an area I'd missed. The equivalent of Museum Station in relation to Centrepoint.
This gives an idea of how compact Taipei living is.
It seems they cram four times more stuff into the same space we'd use in Australia.
A garage workshop nearby is so tiny but efficient.
Another analogy would be to take all the Australian capital cities, people, buildings, the lot and jam it all into a place like Adelaide - or maybe Hobart. (Seeing Taiwan is half the size of Tasmania).
With a small country and wealth, imagine how spectacular the freeways can be.
Back to the night market last night.
Darwin has a very good one on Thursday nights. (The one here is every night). Darwin permits food stalls - it's the only place I've seen that does so on a large scale.
The Coolangatta (Queensland) beach market is a joke - no food selling allowed, apart from fruit. Pottery and stuff.
This night market here, near the centre of town is terrific - one of a dozen. More on these later.....
